Davies, W. H. (William Henry)

W.H. Davies, poet and author, was born in Wales. At the age of 22 he left Britain to seek his fortune in the United States. He spent the next five years wandering extensively in that country and he later described those adventures in his popular Autobiography of a Super Tramp. Having decided to try his luck in the Klondike gold rush, Davies lost his foot in a train accident in Ontario and returned to Wales. In 1905, at the age of 34, he began submitting his poetry for publication and soon found himself in demand, ranking Bernard Shaw among his admirers. Between 1905 and 1939 he published scores of little books of poetry, his autobiography, four novels and numerous other prose works. He married in 1923 and died, childless, in 1940.

2015-06-09

A. Wilson